A small town outside Atlanta, Social Circle, Georgia, has filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security and ICE over plans to convert a warehouse into a detention facility that could hold 10,000 immigrants—alleging the project will overwhelm local inf
When Social Circle officials say they were told ICE’s converted warehouse would be ready by June 2026. the town expected work to begin soon.. Instead. the lawsuit says no construction has started—while the plan. if carried through. could ultimately hold 10. 000 people in a community of fewer than 5. 500 residents.
Social Circle, Georgia, filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security and U.S.. Immigration and Customs Enforcement over their plans to open what the town describes as a mega-detention center.. The complaint alleges ICE’s effort to convert a large local warehouse into detention space will overburden the town’s infrastructure. triggering risks officials describe as “dry taps and raw human waste spills.”
Town leaders also argue that ICE’s actions have broken state and federal laws.. The suit targets the agency’s attempt to repurpose a warehouse bought with $128 million in taxpayer money. according to the complaint.. It further says the price ICE paid for the Georgia property was more than five times the property’s previously assessed value.
In court filings, Social Circle says ICE representatives told the town the facility would open by June 2026. The lawsuit says that conversion construction has not yet begun.
A DHS spokesperson responded by pointing to a review of DHS policies and proposals. “As with any transition, we are reviewing agency policies and proposals,” the spokesperson said, referencing Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who replaced Kristi Noem at the end of March.
The spokesperson also cited what Mullin said during his confirmation hearing: “As Secretary Mullin said in his confirmation hearing: ‘I will work with the community leaders and make sure that we are delivering for the American people what the President set out.. … We want to work with community leaders.. We want to be good partners.’”
The lawsuit lands in a politically charged region.. Social Circle sits in Walton County, where 72% of residents voted for Trump in the last election.. At the same time, a recent shift in national politics is adding pressure to how detention expansion plans are received.. Trump’s approval rating on immigration has risen after a dramatic decline earlier this year. according to April polling from NBC News.
The case also comes amid ICE’s broader push to rapidly expand detention capacity across the country.. Court documents describe a nationwide plan that includes eight large-scale detention centers. 16 new processing facilities. and the acquisition of 10 “turnkey” facilities designed to house 92. 600 more immigrants.. An ICE overview of the plan, included in the Social Circle case, says it would cost ICE $38.3 billion.
Communities and lawmakers in multiple states have criticized the detention expansion. The plan has drawn pushback from towns, residents, and lawmakers in New Jersey, Maryland, Mississippi, and Arizona.
ICE says the converted warehouses are part of what it calls a “long-term detention solution,” and that detainees would spend an average of 60 days at the locations, according to a proposal included with Social Circle’s court filing.
Now, federal oversight is also moving. The DHS inspector general is looking into ICE’s purchase of mega-warehouses around the country, launching a newly announced audit examining whether DHS met the need for new detention space in a “cost-effective manner.”
The stakes are heightened by recent scrutiny of ICE detention conditions elsewhere.. The largest operating ICE detention facility, Camp East Montana, in El Paso, Texas, currently holds more than 2,500 people.. The facility has faced criticism after three people died in 40 days there, with the most recent death in January.
DHS previously said it was “committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe. secure. and humane environments.” It added that “Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout their stay. ” including “medical. dental and mental health screenings.” The statement said “At no time during detention is a detained noncitizen denied emergency care.”
For Social Circle. the dispute is arriving not just as a fight over immigration enforcement. but as a direct test of how far federal detention plans can reach into small-town life.. With the town alleging both legal violations and major strain on local systems. its lawsuit puts a fast-growing national strategy in direct conflict with a community arguing it has been given too little time and too much burden.
Social Circle Georgia DHS ICE lawsuit detention facility 10 000 immigrants Markwayne Mullin Walton County inspector general detention expansion Camp East Montana